Our third Italy tour was of the Bargello National Museum and Opera del Duomo Museum. I could have spent 3x as much time in each museum learning more about each piece of art. The more we toured museums and learned about the Renaissance, the Medici Family and the role of the Church, the more things started to click.
Bargello National Museum
The Bargello National Museum is known for its collection of sculptures. Like our previous tour, Nicholaus gave us TONS of history around all these pieces. The two above left an impression on me. On the left is a marble sculpture of Saint George by Donatello. We discussed how he is standing, the images above/below and his facial expressions. So much symbolism! The bronze sculptures on the right is of David, created by Andrea del Verrocchio. Verrocchio used his student for a model to create this sculpture. That student was someone you might have heard of, Leonardo da Vinci. Nicholaus also explained the process they used to build bronze sculptures.
Lastly, was this huge bust of Cosimo I de Medici made out of bronze. You can’t tell in the photo, but the thing is massive. It’s apparently twice the size of Cosimo. The size, along with the eyes made it really imposing.
Opera del Duomo Museum
The Opera del Duomo Museum is right across from the Duomo. We first grabbed a cappuccino to keep our little brains going. The weather was perfect for enjoying a bit of caffeine al fresco.
Inside were so many amazing pieces of art, but here are just a few that stuck out to me. First, Lorenzo Ghiberti‘s bronze doors for the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral. There was a contest between Ghiberti and Brunelleschi to see who would design the doors. (You can see what they submitted for the contest at the Bargello.) I included one photo with some of us in it just to show the scale of the doors.
The Deposition by Michelangelo was another incredible sculpture to see in-person. Our tour guide had a passionate opinion about how they “fixed” the sculpture by re-attaching pieces. The other inspiring piece at the Duomo Museum was the Maddalena penitente by Donatello. The wooden sculpture is of St. Mary Magdalene. Very moving.
Italy Posts
- Palazzo Medici-Riccardi + San Lorenzo Church + San Marco Monastery
- Day Trip to Siena + San Gimignano + Pisa
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